In California, transgendered students will be able to play on either girls or boys athletic teams and decide which restrooms to use, though the law could still face a referendum challenge. Photographers who pursue the children of celebrities in the Golden State could also face up to a $10,000 fine for taking their pictures without parents’ consent, the Associated Press notes.
Colorado and Washington have changed their restrictions on marijuana sales and use. In Colorado, recreational use of marijuana becomes legal tomorrow. Recreational pot sales become legal in Washington state later in the year.
Illegal immigrants can obtain driver authorization cards in Nevada on Jan. 2.
The minimum wage rises to $7.95 an hour in Ohio for untipped workers. In California the minimum wage will climb to $9 an hour in July.
In Connecticut, unregistered assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines will be illegal. Neighboring New York will begin requiring previously purchased assault weapons to be registered beginning on Apr. 15.

Want to share your own views on money and politics? Drop us a line at letters@investorplace.com and we might reprint your views in our InvestorPolitics blog! Please include your name, city and state of residence. All letters submitted to this address will be considered for publication.Read

The FAA chose the different sites based off of their geology, climate, location of ground infrastructure, research needs, airspace use, safety, aviation experience and risk.The organization chose the different sites to get a fair amount of diversity in its drone testing.

All you need is about $10 to get a bobblehead of your favorite athlete or celebrity, but there are some bobbleheads that are a little harder to get.
Source: mailto:letters@investorplace.com

George Mason University law professor Ross Davies has been creating bobbleheads of Supreme Court justices over the last 10 years. These rare items can be redeemed by those who have a certificate which they get when subscribing to Green Bag, a legal journal that Davies runs. However, these certificates only guarantee that the holder “might be able” to get a Supreme Justice figure.

Some bobbleheads are handed out to law school public interest groups and a few of them can be found on eBay for hundreds of dollars. There are 16 of these figurines out there and they represent 16 different justices including four of the court’s current nine members. Read

Congress is letting 55 tax breaks expire at the end of the year despite the fact that most of them will be renewed.
Source: mailto:letters@investorplace.com

Nevertheless, many individuals and businesses are uneasy about these tax breaks because they might be changed when renewed or not renewed at all. They rely on these breaks when filing taxes so any change could hurt them considerably.

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, over 1.1 million Americans registered for health care through the federal marketplace between October 1 and December 24. The vast majority of them — 975,000 — registered in December.

The 1.1 million figure only includes the 36 states using the federal government’s site, HealthCare.gov, to handle registrations. There are fourteen states and the District of Columbia operating their own exchanges. Read

1.3 million Americans are set to lose their federal emergency unemployment benefits tomorrow unless the Senate comes up with a solution.
Source: mailto:letters@investorplace.com

Dec. 27, 2013 marks the last day of benefits for these Americans but Rhode Island Democrat Sen. Jack Reed is looking to pass a three-month extension to long-term federal unemployment insurance. Reed and Nevada Republican Sen. Dean Heller are planning on introducing the extension together. These unemployment benefits would not come out of the budget since this is an economic emergency so the cost would simply be added to the deficit.

In addition to the 1.3 million that will be affected starting tomorrow, 1.9 million others will also lose their unemployment benefits by next summer. Read

There’s no doubt that money and politics are very intertwined these days. InvestorPolitics was created to filter through the conventional media noise, serve up some of the most important policy issues of the day and explain how they could impact your personal finances and your retirement.

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